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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Readers Write In: What is this Snake? Part II

I was very impressed by the readership a couple weeks ago when I asked everyone to chime in regarding their thoughts on a mystery snake I was sent to identify, so I thought we should make this a recurring feature.I just received the following e-mail."I can't ID this snake positively. I think its a Black Racer. I live about 60 miles north of Miami. I know it's not poisonous but need to prove it to all my 'All snakes are poisonous and need to be killed' friends.J.M.Florida"OK, so there you have it. We are under pressure to identify this animal as a harmless creature. Let's see if we can do so. As before, include your identification in a comment below and be specific regarding how you came to your conclusion. Last time we had a couple of skilled biologists participate; this time I want to hear from everyone else too, even if there are already some answers listed. Don't be shy; even "experts" make mistakes (if you don't believe me, just look at all the reminders I get in the comments section of this post)